Effective Executive - Peter Drucker

Effective Decisions
TO ACT OR NOT TO ACT

The great majority of decisions will lie between extremes.

The problem is not going to take care of itself; but it is unlikely to turn into degenerative malignancy either. The opportunity is only for improvement rather than for real change and innovation; but it is still quite considerable. If we do not act, we may be better off.

In this situation the effective decision-maker compares effort and risk of action to risk of inaction. There is no formula for the right
decision here. But the guidelines are so clear that decision in the concrete case is rarely difcult. They are: Act if on balance the benets greatly outweigh cost and risk; and Act or do not act; but do not hedge or compromise

The surgeon who only takes out half the tonsils or half the
appendix risks as much infection or shock as if he did the who job. And he has not cured the condition, has indeed made it worse. He either operates or he doesnt act. He does not take a half-action. This is the one thing that is always wrong, and the one sure way not to satisfy the minimum specications, the minimum boundary conditions.

The decision is now ready to be made.

The specications have been thought through, the alternatives explored, the risks and gains weighed. Everything is known. Indeed, it is always reasonably clear by now what course of action must be taken. At this point the decision does indeed almost take care of itself.

If someone believes you need more information before making

the decision... an effective executive must ask... Is there any reason to believe that additional study will produce anything new?

The effective decision-maker, at the same time, will not rush into a decision unless his is sure he understands it. Like any reasonably
experienced adult, she has leared to pay attention to what Socrates called his daemon: the inner voice, somewhat in the bowels, that whispers take care... But one holds back - if only for a moment - if one nds oneself uneasy, perturbed, bothered without quite knowing why. I always stop when things seem out of focus. is the way one of the best decision-makers of my acquaintance puts it. Nine times out of ten the

Effective Executive - Peter Drucker

uneasiness turns out to be over some silly detail. But the tenth time one suddenly realizes that one has overlooked

But the effective decision-maker does not wait long - a few

days, at most a few weeks. If the daemon has not spoken by then, he acts with speed and energy whether he likes to or not.

Executives are not paid for doing things they like to do.
They are paid for getting the right things done - most of all in their specic tasks, the making of effective decisions.